Fallout Wiki:The Vault Academy/General editing/Lesson five

Today we will talk about references, a very important part of editing. They help create strong, well-written articles as well as show our readers where our information comes from. It is also important to reference each claim we add to an article so that other editors can verify the information independently.

Verifiability[]

Verifiability means other users can check if the information presented comes from a reliable source. All material added or existing on Nukapedia must be verifiable. The content must be determined by previously published information rather than the beliefs or experiences of editors. Even if an editor is sure something is true, it must be verifiable before it can be added. When adding sources, a neutral point of view must be maintained and only present what the sources say. All quotations must include an inline citation that directly supports the claim. Any material that lacks sources will be removed.

You may see several templates alerting editors to articles requiring the addition of verifiable, accurate, and relevant references, or to remove speculation and/or characteristics not supported by sources. The overarching goal is not to remove information outright, but a focus on:

• rewording claims so that they align with references (claim must align exactly with the content of the reference, no extrapolating or embellishing)
• ensure each new claim is referenced appropriately with a verifiable source (another editor must be able to check the source text to confirm)
• checking that all references are relevant to the claim and formatted correctly based on the source type (the reference must be supporting the claim directly in a succinct way and must be labeled appropriately if it is a non-canon source)

Dialogue files[]

A dialogue file is a combination of spoken lines that are datamined, formatted, and placed as a link on each character page. It shows the lines that are spoken by the character in-game. The conversation usually takes place between this character and the player character, so we reference it with the player character's "prompt" (meaning the line spoken right before the reference line) and then the desired line. This helps provide context for the reference.

For our example, we will look at the dialogue between the Courier and Robert House. Mr. House's dialogue file is found in the infobox of his character page, under the technical tab. It is called MrHouse.txt. The claim that we will be referencing is:

"Mr. House will describe Vegas as one of a kind, despite the Strip appearing as only a fraction of the city's former glory."

Once we arrive on the dialogue file page, I do a search for a keyword. In this case, "glory." Finding the line, we will now format it correctly. The first line under topic is what the Courier says, which reads, "I've never seen anything like this place" to which Mr. House responds, "Of course you haven't. Vegas always was one of a kind. What you see down on the Strip is just a fraction of the city's former glory, and yet... more than an echo. I preserved its spirit." The format of the reference is depicted below, step by step.

Heading back to the article, now we can add the reference we just constructed to the end of the claim we are making. This will result in a small number applied in superscript, a bit above the line. The full reference will appear at the bottom of the article.

Reference section[]

At the bottom of the article, we need to make sure that a reference section is set up to display our references. Sometimes it is already included, but always check in case it is not. The section will go at the very bottom, above any navboxes, and below the image gallery.

Now that we have learned the basics of referencing a dialogue exchange, there are two helpful formatting options I want to make you aware of, for articles that have a large number of references. You can use {{ref box}} to put all the references in a scrolling box, or you can use {{references|2}} in order to place the references in two columns. An example of the section nestled between the gallery and navbox is listed last in the table as an example.

Terminal entries[]

The second type of reference we will learn today is one from a terminal entry. Datamined, formatted, and added to the wiki in a similar process, terminal entries are found on the location pages in which they are found in-game.

A location will have one file in the infobox that includes all terminals in that location. For our example, we will look at the information within a terminal entry located inside of Parsons State Insane Asylum. The claim that we will be referencing is:

"Lorenzo Cabot was admitted involuntarily to the facility for indefinite confinement on June 11, 1898."

To find this information, we find the terminal entry file on the location article, and then do a search for a keyword, such as "Lorenzo." We find it under the "Patient 001-MS" entry in "Patient Records" on Jack's office terminal. Unlike dialogue, terminal entries don't have to be copy pasted as a transcript. We can just note where they are located in the following way.

In the color coded image, the name of the file/terminals is "Parsons State Insane Asylum terminal entries" (green), the name of the exact location of the reference is "Patient 001-MS" (orange), and the name of the terminal is "Jack's office terminal" (purple). This time the reference will look like this, and then will appear in the article as the second example.

Clarify[]

The last thing to learn is that if you come across a reference that is needed, but you don't know where to look, add the following template at the end of the sentence, which adds it to a category for others to help search for as well. Other clarifying templates mean additional information or further explanation is needed about a piece of an article, seen below.

Each one of these templates will add the article to corresponding categories. Unlike the bug templates, once the reference or clarification has been added, the template can be removed completely from the article.

Quiz[]